SAN ANTONIO – With the sun bearing down on them, Trinity football opened fall camp on their brand new practice field Wednesday morning.
Despite the heat, early reviews of the team's performance were glowing.
"It was probably the best first practice we've had since I've been here," said senior wide receiver Tommy Lavine. "With the young guys getting acclimated to how we practice, the fast tempo and the different concepts we have on offense, we were just flying around."
"It was so nice," junior running back Kale Ridge said. "Being out on this new turf field, seeing everybody, seeing what they've been doing and all the work we've been putting in. It was amazing."
The two biggest reasons for Trinity's seamless transition into practice-mode? Experience and depth. Over 110 players took the field Wednesday morning, and nearly half were upperclassmen. That mixture has created a competitive, focused environment.
"Coming in as a freshman, there were two seniors in our position group," Ridge said. "This year, we've got a lot of older guys, so you can see that every freshman has someone that they can talk to at some point. The communication is on a different level. We're always where we're supposed to be and doing what we're supposed to be doing."
"Everybody has a fire behind them at all times," explained junior fullback Joshua Izi. "The young guys are hungry and we can see that from day one. We're pushing each other day in, day out, and getting closer as a family."
Starting quarterback Wyatt Messex and leading wide receiver Tommy Lavine both return, and with their chemistry already established and strengthening, they expect big things from the offense this season.
"I've had a lot of time to build relationships with Wyatt as quarterback and all of the other receivers this summer," Lavine said. "Throwing together, working out together and it's just a really exciting time. We're going to be really explosive. It's going to be a lot of people getting the ball and getting stats up, so it's going to be fun."
The Tigers are still two weeks away from the start of their regular season. Trinity will host Texas Lutheran University in a preseason scrimmage on Thursday, Aug 29th, before taking on McMurry the following week on Sept. 5th. So in spite of the hype surrounding the team's impressive head start, the Tigers know they have to take things slow.
"You never start where you finish," said head coach Jerheme Urban. "We finished last year really strong, and it produced a really good springboard for the offseason. Guys worked really hard this summer, you can see that. I think we started a little bit ahead of where we started this time last year, but we've got a long ways to go."
"I think the main goal is to focus one day at time," Lavine said. "Go 1-0 in each practice, in the weight room and each film session. We just want to get 1% better each time and not look forward to the future, but focus on the now. When we do that, our end goal will be achieved."
